TEW Diary: WWE '12 - Wrestlemania Backlash

[Hawk Hart]

Hey guys, I've been working on a TEW scenario starting in January 2012 for a few weeks (two weeks before the Rumble to be exact, with two weeks of no playing) and I just hit the other side of No Way Out 2012 so I figured it was time to start sharing. Here's a quick rundown of what's been happening before we pick up with full results on the last leg of the Road to Wrestlemania.

Since I started with a 2012 database, I also started with the same angles as the WWE started 2012 with, I decided to keep them for the most part to see how I would do with them.

Build to the Royal Rumble

RAW
Raw's main feuds were Dolph Ziggler's pursuit of CM Punk's WWE
title while EVPoTRaIRGM John Laurinitis tried to screw Punk at every turn. Meanwhile, Kane continued to try and get John Cena to "embrace the hate" with several backstage and post match assaults building to their Rumble clash. Also, the All-American American Jack Swagger has begun his quest to become the All-American American United States Champion, charging through Raw's mid-card in his chase for Zack Ryder.

Smackdown!
Over on Smackdown, World Heavyweight Champion Daniel Bryan did the honorable thing and granted his friend the Big Show a rematch for the title at the Royal Rumble but is their friendship on the rocks? Despite only holding the title for a few minutes, Show seems to have let the win go to his head, taking credit for tag wins secured by Bryan and not Show himself. The Barrett Barrage was looking for a new target after Randy Orton was injured by Barrett last month and he found one in Sheamus. Sheamus put Mark Henry out of action after Henry tried to attack Teddy Long. Also, a confident Cody Rhodes has been taking on all comers in an arrogant attempt to prove he's the greatest Intercontinental Champion of all times. The only challenger he seems to be avoiding? Ted DiBiase, Jr. who has been reviving his championship aspirations with a string of impressive wins.

Misc.
Air Boom successfully defended their tag titles several times on the way to their Royal Rumble defense against the Colons.
NXT and Superstars have been featuring high quality wrestling matches but still, no one watches.

Royal Rumble
CM Punk defended his title against Ziggler, Kane and Cena fought to a double-DQ no contest. Daniel Bryan defeated the Big Show and was refused a post match handshake. Beth Pheonix retained her Diva's title over Tamina. Air Boom beat the Colons to retain the tag titles. And the #ShowOff returned for his second match of the night, entering, and winning, the Royal Rumble.

Build to No Way Out

Raw
Mr. Excitement continued to stack the deck against CM Punk, this time booking him to defend his WWE Championship in the Elimination Chamber against John Cena, Kane, Alberto Del Rio, the Miz, and Chris Jericho. All six men clashed over the course of the month, Kane and Cena continued their chaotic brawls while the unlikely allies of CM Punk and Chris Jericho battled Alberto Del Rio and the Miz. Jack Swagger was finally granted a US title match for No Way Out and took every opportunity he could to ensure a win, attacking Zack Ryder in and out of matches.

Smackdown!
Big Show became even more distant from Daniel Bryan, brushing him off several times, including in a tag match against Wade Barrett and Cody Rhodes. Show, Rhodes, Barrett, Henry, and Sheamus all earned spots in Smackdown's Elimination Chamber match. Ted DiBiase challenged for Cody's Intercontinental Championship but was foiled when Cody used underhanded tactics to retain. What will the Fortunate Son do now that his Intercontinental dream is in question?

Misc.
With the Colons vanquished, Air Boom needed new challengers and they got more than they were expecting in Chris Hero and Antonio Cesaro, the Kings of Wrestling. The Kings have gotten the upper-hand several times but does Air Boom have what it takes to keep their titles? In other news, Tamina has joined forces with the Divas of Doom but Eve and Kelly Kelly have their own back-up in the form of Cheerleader Melissa.

No Way Out
Zack Ryder retained the US title over Jack Swagger
Air Boom successfully defended their tag titles against the Colons, Rad Bromance (Slabriel), and the Kings of Wrestling, Epico took the fall.
Dolph Ziggler issued an open challenge that was answered by Ted DiBiase, Jr. Ziggler won with a Zig Zag after Cody Rhodes distracted Ted.
CM Punk defended his WWE title against Chris Jericho, Alberto Del Rio, the Miz, John Cena, and Kane. (Punk eliminated Del Rio, Cena eliminated Kane and then Miz eliminated Cena, Jericho eliminated Miz, and Punk eliminated Jericho)
Eve, Kelly Kelly, and Cheerleader Melissa defeated The Divas of Doom when Melissa pinned Tamina.
John Cena finally snapped and beat the holy hell out of Kane backstage.
Daniel Bryan retained his title against Cody Rhodes, Sheamus, Wade Barrett, Mark Henry, and the Big Show. (Sheamus eliminated Henry, Rhodes and Barrett worked together to eliminate Sheamus, Show eliminated Barrett, Bryan eliminated Rhodes, and Bryan eliminated Big Show)
After the match, Big Show laid Daniel Bryan out with a KO punch and held the World Heavyweight Championship high.

Champions
WWE Championship: CM Punk
World Heavyweight Championship: Daniel Bryan
United States Championship: Zack Ryder
Intercontinental Championship: Cody Rhodes
World Tag Team Championship: Air Boom
WWE Diva's Championship: Beth Phoenix

Pay Per View Events
January: Royal Rumble
February: No Way Out
March: Wrestlemania
April: Backlash
May: Over the Limit
June: Extreme Rules
July: King of the Ring
August: Summerslam
September: No Mercy
October: Vengeance
November: Survivor Series
December: Armageddon

Does anyone have any tips for booking Divas because I suck at it.

[Hawk Hart]

February, Week 4, 2012

Raw
Raw opened with Dolph Ziggler, Jack Swagger, and Vickie Guerrero coming to the ring. Ziggler and Swagger talked about their enemies CM Punk and Zach Ryder before Punk and Ryder came out to confront them. Things quickly turned violent and Punk and Ryder vs Swagger and Ziggler was booked.

Evan Bourne defeated Tyler Reks. After the match, the Kings of Wrestling came out to taunt Air Boom.

Johnny Ace was shown in his office with his lawyer David Otunga when Chris Jericho burst in. He said that because he was the last man in the Elimination Chamber with Punk and nearly beat him he deserves a title shot. Ace tells Jericho that he has no business demanding things but if he can prove himself against the Miz tonight, Ace may consider it.

A very cryptic video aired hyping a return for before Wrestlemania.

Cheerleader Melissa absolutely dominated and destroyed Nikki Bella.

John Cena cut an impassioned promo on the Rock and their clash at Wrestlemania and about how he may have snapped on Kane last night but it didn't mean he had embraced the hate, despite how much he hates the Rock for abandoning the WWE Universe.

The Kings of Wrestling beat the Usos after Hero hit Jimmy Uso with a Roaring Elbow.

Kane came out to the ring, he says that no matter what Cena says, he's a hateful person and Kane finally forced him to prove that. He says he knows that Cena is on the edge and all it's going to take is the people turning on him in favor of the Rock to finally release his inner monster. He tells everyone he's done his job with Cena and now it's time to kill a monster, not unleash one. He knows the video from earlier was for his brother the Undertaker and he's gonna stop the return before it starts. He wants the Undertaker at Wrestlemania.

Alberto Del Rio beat Alex Riley because I needed to get ADR on TV.

Chris Jericho defeated the Miz by pinfall, will Ace consider Jericho's demand?

CM Punk and Zack Ryder beat Jack Swagger and Dolph Ziggler in the main event when Punk pinned Swagger.

[Hawk Hart]

Any one bothering to read this? Any feedback?

[Magic knows Black Lives Matter]

Not really much to comment on. I like that you took the DB/Big Show feud in another direction by having Show be the heel. Not too big on Kane challenging Taker to a match at Mania though. Also, interested in how you will answer the inevitable question of whether or not Cena will turn heel at Mania.

[Hawk Hart]

Feb 21, 2012 19:01:44 GMT -5 Magic knows Black Lives Matter said:

Not really much to comment on. I like that you took the DB/Big Show feud in another direction by having Show be the heel. Not too big on Kane challenging Taker to a match at Mania though. Also, interested in how you will answer the inevitable question of whether or not Cena will turn heel at Mania.

Yeah, Taker was e-mailing me to bitch that he hadn't been booked and I wanted to capitalize on Kane's immense heat, it should be good for ratings if not exactly exciting booking.

[Hawk Hart]

Smackdown
Feb, Wk 4, 2012

The show opened with Michael Cole and Booker T at the announce table hyping tonight's main event of Wade Barrett vs Daniel Bryan. Before they finish, Daniel Bryan comes to the ring demanding answers from the Big Show after his actions at No Way Out. The Big Show comes out and tells D-Bry that he doesn't owe him any answers. They trade barbs before things get heated. Big Show left before they could come to blows.

Tamina and Natalya, representing the Divas of Doom, defeated Eve and Alicia Fox when Alicia tapped to a Sharpshooter.

Matt Stryker interviewed Wade Barrett backstage about his match with Daniel Bryan. Barrett said he'd defeat Bryan tonight and prove to Teddy Long that deserves a World Title shot at Mania.

Ted DiBiase beat Hunico with Dream Street, will Teddy Long take notice and give Ted another IC title shot?

Daniel Bryan was shown backstage with his girlfriend AJ. He said he knew that the Big Show would do anything to get a title shot at Wrestlemania and that he was afraid Big Show would come after her.

Cody Rhodes successfully defended his Intercontinental championship against Alex Riley in a great match.

Big Show was interviewed by Matt Striker backstage, he promised that after he won his match tonight, he'd show everyone the ace up his sleeve and it would be shocking.

Big Show beat Yoshi Tatsu via KO after putting him in the Colossal Clutch. After the match, Show grabbed a mic and announced his big surprise was that he has a new Business Manager, the Voice of the WWE, Michael Cole.

Antonio Cesaro beat Evan Bourne with a Ricola Bomb after Chris Hero attacked Bourne. During the match, the commentators noted that this was the first of two singles matches between the KOW and Air Boom.

A hype video aired highlighting the last year of history between Cena and the Rock.

In a nearly twenty minute bout, Wade Barrett was defeated by Daniel Bryan after submitting to Cattle Mutilation. After the match, Michael Cole came out and demanded that Daniel Bryan respond to the Big Show's Wrestlemania challenge. Bryan not only responded, he accepted, the Big Show vs Daniel Bryan is on for Wrestlemania!

NXT
Feb, Wk 4, 2012

NXT GM William Regal started the show announcing that tonight's main event of NXT will be a fatal four way between Titus O'Neal, Johnny Curtis, Derrick Bateman, and Percy Watson. This is the first of three matches to decide the "winner" of NXT.

In a match that had some good action but not much in the way of heat, Tyson Kidd defeated Trent Baretta in 12:39 by pinfall with a Code Blue.

Backstage, Yoshi Tatsu bumped into Curt Hawkins. Hawkins took offense and challenged Yoshi to a match.

A video played highlighting the Dolph Ziggler and CM Punk feud, including Ace's involvement and Jericho's attempt to get into the Mania.

In a bout that had solid in-ring action but non-existent crowd heat, Yoshi Tatsu defeated Curt Hawkins in 13:30 by pinfall with a Roundhouse Kick.

In a bout that had solid in-ring action but non-existent crowd heat, Titus O'Neil defeated Derrick Bateman, Percy Watson and Johnny Curtis in 10:51 when Titus O'Neil defeated Percy Watson by pinfall after using a foreign object.

Per the booking of GM Regal, Percy Watson is now eliminated from contention for the title of NXT: Redemption winner and next week we will see Titus vs Bateman vs Curtis.

[Hawk Hart]

Raw
March, Wk 1, 2012

Raw opened this week with CM Punk coming to the ring. He starts to talk about his match with Dolph Ziggler at Wrestlemania but he's interrupted Ziggler himself. He says Punk should enjoy being WWE champion for the time being because at Mania, there will be a new champion in- Dolph was cut off by the music of Chris Jericho before he finished his statement leaving the WWE Universe to wonder who he meant. Jericho says he deserves a shot at the WWE title at Wrestlemania. Jericho counts his accolades and mentions that he was the last person eliminated at No Way Out and he beat the Miz last week. This brings out the Miz and all four trade insults and argue about who deserves a title shot.

Only one man can solve this problem.

Only one man can tame the excitement.



Laurinaitis says there's only one way to solve this problem, both Jericho and the Miz want in to the WrestleMania title match so tonight, Miz will team with Ziggler against Jericho and Punk, if Jericho or Miz scores the fall for their team they will be in the WWE title match.

In match two of the KOW vs Air Boom singles series, Chris Hero defeated Kofi Kingston with a loaded Roaring Elbow. After the match the commentators hyped the Tag Team title match that will take place next week on Raw.

Cheerleader Melissa continued her domination of the Diva's division, destroying Rosa Mendez in under three minutes with an Air Raid Crash.

Jack Swagger came out to the ring and said the before he had his match tonight he wanted to make a challenge for Wrestlemania, Jack Swagger vs Zack Ryder for the WWE United States title.

Following his challenge, Jack Swagger defeated Trent Baretta by submission with an Ankle Lock. Swagger refused to release the hold until Zack Ryder's theme hit. Ryder came out on stage and accepted Swagger's Wrestlemania challenge and promised the Swagger would be forgotten about after Ryder's Wrestlemania Moment, Woo Woo Woo, You Know It.

Chris Jericho and Punk are seen talking in a locker room, Punk tells Jericho that he doesn't like Jericho trying to force his way into the main event of Mania but tonight they're partners so he'll forget about it until after they beat Miz and Ziggler.

After a commercial, Alberto Del Rio comes to the ring and talks about himself and says no one in WWE can beat him but he welcomes them to try. Alex Riley accepts Del Rio's challenge.

Alberto Del Rio beat Alex Riley in a fairly even match. Del Rio was able to submit Riley with a cross armbreaker after Ricardo distracted A-Ry.

After another commercial, Kane comes to the ring and restates his challenge to the Undertaker. He says that the Undertaker has had a week to respond but he hasn't because he's afraid of Kane. Undertaker's gong cuts Kane off though as lightning strikes all four ring posts.

In a little over three minutes, Beth Phoenix beat Alicia Fox with a Glam Slam.

Next up, appearing via satellite, the Rock rips into John Cena with a litany of insults and threats, promising to beat him at Wrestlemania. Cena cuts the Rock off though, leading to the two trading insults. Cena challenges the Rock to appear live next week on Raw and the Rock says he'll be there.

The Miz and Ziggler are talking backstage, Ziggler tells Miz that after they win tonight, Miz better stay out of his way because he is going to Wrestlemania to win the WWE title and no one is going to stop him.

Chris Jericho and WWE Champion CM Punk defeated the Miz and Dolph Ziggler in a 15 minute bout when Jericho caught Miz off guard with the Codebreaker for the pin.

After the match, Punk and Jericho celebrated their victory and shared uneasy looks at one another.

[Deleted]

Definitely a great read.

[Hawk Hart]

NXT
March, Wk 1, 2012

Curt Hawkins and Tyler Reks started NXT this week by issuing an open challenge to any tag team on the roster to face them. The challenge was answered by Yoshi Tatsu and his new partner, Tyson Kidd.

Tyson Kidd and Yoshi Tatsu defeated Curt Hawkins and Tyler Reks when Kidd pinned Reks after a Code Blue.

Matt Striker was backstage with Derrick Bateman who cut a promo what winning NXT and beating Johnny Curtis means to him.

Trent Beretta beat Darren Young with a Dudebuster DDT. (Is Citten reading this yet?)

A Wrestlemania commercial featuring all the of the big match competitors aired.

In the NXT Finals Series, Derrick Bateman and Johnny Curtis advanced when Bateman pinned Titus following a Mantastic. NXT ended with Derrick Bateman celebrating his win and having a tense staredown with Johnny Curtis.

Superstars
March, Wk 1, 2012

Superstars kicked off this week with something resembling a match when Drew McIntyre beat Mason Ryan with a Futureshock DDT.

Next up, in a segment not one single person cared about, Ted DiBiase and Jinder Mahal were shown arguing backstage, they agreed to a match later. Great.

Ted DiBiase, Jr. beat Jinder Mahal with Dream Street in about ten minutes. While Ted was celebrating his victory, Intercontinental Champion Cody Rhodes ran out and attacked him. The segment ended with Cody standing over a fallen Ted, raising his IC title high.

A video played showing the highlights from Raw's main event tag match where Chris Jericho earned a spot in the WWE title match.

The Rad Bromance of Heath Slater and Justin Gabriel kept on rocking this week on Superstars, they defeated the Colons after Gabriel pinned Epico following a 450 Splash.

Another highlight video played, this time recapping the events from Friday leading to the Big Show getting a WrestleMania title shot.

In the Superstars main event, United States champion Zack Ruder took on Joe Hennig, pinning him after a Zack Attack.

Smackdown
March, Wk 1, 2012

Smackdown started this week with The Big Show, Michael Cole, and Wade Barrett coming to the ring. The trio talked about Daniel Bryan and Sheamus leading to the World Champion and the Celtic Warrior confronting them. After a short argument, Teddy Long smelled a tag match in the air and came out to book Sheamus and Daniel Bryan vs the Big Show and Wade Barrett. Holla holla holla.

After a commercial Teddy is in his office when Ted DiBiase, Jr. comes in. Ted asks Teddy for another Intercontinental title shot but Teddy tells him he can't do that tonight but what he can do is offer Ted a qualifying match for WrestleMania's Money in the Bank Ladder match.

In a Money in the Bank qualifier, Ted DiBiase, Jr. defeated Drew McIntyre with a Dream Street. After the match, Cody Rhodes appears on the Titantron. He apologizes to Ted, he says sorry that Ted wasn't good enough to defeat Cody for the Intercontinental title when he got his shot and he's sorry that Ted isn't going to win Money in the Bank. He says that tonight he's got a qualifier match and after he wins, he's going on to Wrestlemania to become Mr. Money in the Bank.

The Divas of Doom defeated Eve and Kelly Kelly following a Glam Slam on Eve. Beth and Natalya turned their attention to Kelly Kelly post match but were run off when Cheerleader Melissa made the save.

Backstage, AJ is seen talking to Kaitlyn when Michael Cole approaches her. He says that he hopes that AJ is happy because last week her boyfriend signed his own death warrant and it would be best for AJ to stay away from Cole and the Big Show.

In our second Money in the Bank qualifier of the night, Cody Rhodes defeated Ezekiel Jackson with a Beautiful Disaster kick.

We immediately go backstage where Matt Striker is with Daniel Bryan. Bryan is incensed at Michael Cole's thinly veiled threats at AJ and promises that if any sort of harm befalls AJ, he will make life hell for Cole and Show.

Tag team action came to Friday night next as Air Boom defeated the Colons in a non-title match. Primo was pinned after an Evan Bourne Shooting Star Press. After the bell, the Kings of Wrestling hit the ring to take advantage of the champs but Boune and Kingston were able to hold their ground, will that be the case Monday?

Big Show and Wade Barrett cut a promo in the back where they threatened to "defeat, destroy, and decimate" Daniel Bryan and Sheamus tonight. Big Show adds that after the match, there will no one there to protect AJ if anything bad were to happen to her.

Next, this week's Wrestlemania was press conference was highlighted, clips included the Rock and Cena trading insults as well as CM Punk promising that he will live up to his claim of best in the world when he retains at Wrestlemania.

In the main event, The Big Show and Wade Barrett beat Daniel Bryan and Sheamus when Cole interfered allowing Show to hit a knockout punch for the victory. After the match, the brawling continued with Daniel Bryan attacking the Big Show with kicks and punches before security guards and Sheamus can get Bryan away. Smackdown ended with Bryan screaming at Big Show to stay away from AJ.

Well, what's everyone think about what's been going on?

[Deleted]

This is awesome

[Hawk Hart]

Raw
March, Wk 2, 2012

We're greeted at the start of this week's Raw with the usual pyro and ballyhoo we've come to expect. Booker, Cole, and King start us out, talking about the main event of CM Punk and Chris Jericho vs Jack Swagger and Dolph Ziggler. They also mention that the Miz will have a Money in the Bank qualifier.

This segment is followed by John Cena coming to the ring to talk about the Rock. He says he knows the Rock said he'd be here this week but he hasn't shown up, just like nearly every week for the last seven years but if the Rock decides to show, he'll be waiting for him.

In the first match of the night, Cheerleader Melissa beat Tamina with an Air Raid Crash. After the match, Melissa demanded Diva's champion Beth Phoenix come out and face her but Beth didn't answer.

Next up, the Kings of Wrestling were crowned new WWE Tag Team champions when Antonio Cesaro pinned Kofi after a Ricola Bomb. The new champions celebrated with their belts after the match.

The Rock was shown arriving at the arena, he will face off with John Cena later tonight.

In Raw's very first Money in the Bank qualifier, the Miz defeated Alex Riley with a Skull Crushing Finale.

Santino is backstage talking to Eve and Kelly about returning from injury when they're approached by EVPoTRaIGMoMNR John Laurinaitis and his legal aid, David Otunga. Ace says it's great to see Santino back from his injury, it's so great that he has a match tonight against Wade Barrett, the winner gets a spot in Money in the Bank.

Wade Barrett beat Santino with a Wasteland after David Otunga interfered. Barrett joins the Miz, Ted DiBiase, Jr., and Cody Rhodes in Money in the Bank,

Next, Kane came out to talk more about the Undertaker, during his promo, the lights flickered and the TitanTron distorted until finally the Undertaker appeared. He told Kane that he had mistaken Undertaker's silence for fear and that he would face Kane at Wrestlemania and he will drag him straight to the depths of Hell.

After the Undertaker's promo, CM Punk and Chris Jericho are shown in a locker room. Punk says he doesn't want to lose to Swagger and Ziggler tonight so Jericho better make sure he's on his game. Jericho says everything will be fine as long as Punk stays the hell out of his way.

In a surprise upset, Dolph Ziggler secured victory for his team when he pinned CM Punk. Punk was distracted at the mid-match exit of his tag team partner and Ziggler used the opportunity to hit a ZigZag for the win.

The face to face confrontation between the Rock and Cena closed the show. The two traded vicious insults and both promised victory at Wrestlemania. Cena teased assaulting the People's Champ but left saying he'd prefer to wait for Wrestlemania.

[Hawk Hart]

Superstars
March, Wk 2, 2012

Thursday night's online tag team reawakening continued to star this episode of Superstars as Rad Bromance defeated Hunico and Comancho when Comancho was pinned by Heath Slater.

Alicia Fox was in the back talking with some random staff member. They're discussing Cheerleader Melissa's pursuit of Beth Phoenix's Diva's title when Natalya overhears them. She tells Alicia that Beth isn't in the building but that doesn't mean she's going to let Alicia insult her "sister" and she will see Alicia in the ring.

Natalya destroyed Alicia Fox in a short match when Alicia tapped to the Sharpshooter.

A short Wrestlemania commercial is shown with Zack Ryder talking about what competing at Wrestlemania means to him.

Drew McIntyre continued his Superstars winning streak, defeating Trent Beretta with a Future Shock DDT.

Backstage, Matt Striker is with Alex Riley. He mentions Riley's loss to Miz on Monday night as well as his recent losses to Alberto Del Rio. A-Ry admits he's had a tough time recently but promises that all of that will change tonight.

This was followed by a short video showing the Kings of Wrestling winning the tag titles Monday night.

In the Superstars main event of the week, Alex Riley defeated Darren Young with You're Dismissed.

Smackdown
March, Wk 2, 2012

Smackdown is kicked off this week with Intercontinental Champion Cody Rhodes coming to ring to talk about his favorite subject, himself. He talks about being Intercontinental Champion and says soon he will add Money in the Bank and then the World Heavyweight Championship to his collection. Before he can finish, he's interrupted by Teddy Long. Long says that Rhodes was gonna have the night off but since he decided to show up to talk, he can wrestle too. Cody laughs it off, jokingly suggesting that he's got time to beat Ted DiBiase again but Long says Ted is already booked against Wade Barrett tonight. Instead, Cody will face Daniel Bryan in the main event.

The first match of the night was Divas tag action that saw the Divas of Doom represented by Natalya and Beth Phoenix defeat the Chickbusters when Beth pinned Kaitlyn with a Glam Slam. After the match, Beth says that there's a certain Diva that's been raising a fuss recently and saying she wants Beth's title but she hasn't proved anything yet. Melissa may have beaten Tamina but she hasn't beaten Beth's right hand woman, Natalya. If Melissa can beat Natalya on Monday, Beth will consider giving her a title match at Wrestlemania.

In Smackdown's final Money in the Bank qualifying match, Sheamus defeated Jinder Mahal with a Brogue Kick.

AJ is shown walking backstage when she accidentally bumps into a man. As she tries to apologize, the man turns out revealing it's Michael Cole. Cole tells AJ to shut and calls her stupid, claiming she ruined his suit by causing him to spill coffee on it. Before she can say anything, the Big Show comes up behind her and asks if there's a problem. Cole tells Show what happened leading to Show advancing on AJ, telling her what a huge mistake she's made by being so careless. AJ takes off running down the hall and into the parking lot with Big Show in pursuit.

The new Tag Team champions continued their roll, defeating Slater and Gabriel after Gabriel took a Ricola Bomb.

Daniel Bryan is in his locker room backstage when Ted DiBiase comes in and tells him what's happening (Of course Ted had to tell him, he's a nerd, he's probably not even watching the show on the TV.) with AJ and the Big Show. Ted says he saw Show follow AJ into the parking lot and Bryan takes off.

After a commercial we see Daniel Bryan in the parking lot yelling for the Big Show but Show, Cole, and AJ are nowhere to be seen. Finally, Bryan hears AJ scream for help from near the back row of cars. He follows her voice to discover Michael Cole holding captive. Before Bryan can save her, the Big Show hits him from behind, sending him crashing to a car. Show slams Bryan off the side of the car again before slamming him on the hood. Cole lets AJ free to attend to Bryan as he and Show walk off laughing.

In a showdown of Money in the Bank competitors, Wade Barrett beat Ted DiBiase with a handful of tights.

Next, the Big Show and manager Michael Cole are in General Manger Theodore Long's office. Long says he will not stand for this sort of mayhem on his show and Big Show will have to face the consequences of his actions and he'll do that next.

Teddy Long proved to be terrible at punishments as the Big Show easily defeated Jimmy and Jey Uso. Post match, Show continued to beat on both men until officials could get him out of the ring.

A video aired showing highlights of the Miz, John Cena, CM Punk, and the Rock all on different talk shows to promote Wrestlemania.

Following the video, Cody Rhodes returns to the ring. He says he guesses he still has the night off because Daniel Bryan is at the hospital but is once again cut off by Teddy Long. Long says Rhodes won't get off that easy because Smackdown happens to be in Chicago tonight, and who lives in Chicago? WWE Champion CM Punk and he's always ready to go. This brings out CM Punk to a massive ovation and an angry Cody Rhodes.

WWE Champion CM Punk defeated Cody Rhodes with a Go 2 Sleep after nearly 15 minutes in a fantastic match.

Edit: Accidentally clicked reply so I'll edit in the rest of the shows in a bit, I hope you enjoy Superstars more than I enjoyed booking it.

Edit edit: There's Smackdown, NXT will come tomorrow complete with winner and some other stuff. In the meantime, feedback would be loved and greatly appreciated.

[Magic knows Black Lives Matter]

Some good stuff going on in here. The DB/Show match is being built up very well and MITB looks like it should be a good match. Also, I liked the reveal of Punk being DB's replacement against Rhodes.

Have you considered just cancelling Superstars? Seems like the show is more trouble to book than it's worth.

[Hawk Hart]

Mar 9, 2012 3:54:16 GMT -5 Magic knows Black Lives Matter said:

Some good stuff going on in here. The DB/Show match is being built up very well and MITB looks like it should be a good match. Also, I liked the reveal of Punk being DB's replacement against Rhodes.

Have you considered just cancelling Superstars? Seems like the show is more trouble to book than it's worth.

I was considering it but I don't wanna do anything on the next TV season comes up so I can try to get a third TV show my undercard will actually start gaining some momentum. I'm planning on reaching out to some talent on the indy scene but Vince doesn't want me signing cruiserweights or guys that work for "cult" companies so I have to work around that. At least I have a really strong dev. system.

Thanks for taking the time to read this everyone, NXT plus the entire go-home week of Mania should hopefully be up tonight.

Couple of quick notes before I end this rambling mess.
- I started this a few weeks before Bryan started his "YES! YES! YES!" heel stuff and I'll admit, WWE outdid me.

- CM Punk and Cody Rhodes really wanted to work with each other and that really helped me out of a kayfabe corner I backed myself into.

- I would love input on indy talent I should sign/dev members I should bring up. I have a list (the Rock would approve the list. Got some Killer names.) but I'd like your opinions.

[AdamAFL was sooooo wrong]

Mar 9, 2012 16:53:31 GMT -5 Hawk Hart said:

- I would love input on indy talent I should sign/dev members I should bring up. I have a list (the Rock would approve the list. Got some Killer names.) but I'd like your opinions.

Steen hint? Haha. Love the booking so far, although I agree the Bryan stuff has been handled better by the 'E. Will make sure to keep reading.

[Hawk Hart]

NXT
March, Wk 2, 2012

NXT starts with NXT GM William Regal coming out to the ring and asking Derrick Bateman and Johnny Curtis to join him. He tells both men that tonight we'll decide a new NXT winner in the main event. He says the prize for winning is a spot on Smackdown, and that's it. Seriously, what else could it be? These guys have been wrestling for months on end. Hell, everyone forgot it was a competition until Regal took over so the winner goes to Smackdown and the loser stays on NXT, maybe.

Tyson Kidd defeated Tyler Reks with a Code Blue in a fantastic match.

A hype video aired for Monday night's special edition of Piper's Pit featuring Dolph Ziggler, CM Punk, and Chris Jericho.

In a stunningly pun-free backstage promo, Johnny Curtis was completely confident that he will defeat Derrick Bateman and win NXT.

In the main event of the evening, Derrick Bateman beat Johnny Curtis with the Mantastic to become the winner of NXT Redemption. After the match, GM Regal came out to congratulate Bateman for winning and to wish him luck on Smackdown while telling Curtis to get out.

And because I can't leave you guys with that craptastic episode of NXT, here's the go-home Raw before WrestleMania XXVIII.

Raw
March, Wk 3, 2012

What better way to start the most exciting episode of Raw of the year right before the most exciting show of the year than with Mr. Excitement Himself, Johnny Ace. Ace says that in name of Wrestlemania Excitement he's decided to give the fans some Wrestlemania caliber matches tonight. CM Punk will face Jack Swagger, Chris Jericho will face Zack Ryder, and Dolph Ziggler will face John Cena. In addition, there will be a battle royal for the final spot in the Money in the Bank ladder match as well as Piper's Pit and the John Cena/The Rock contract signing.

Cheerleader Melissa stepped up to the challenge laid down by Beth Phoenix, defeating Natalya with an Air Raid Crash. Cheerleader Melissa will challenge Beth Phoenix for the WWE Diva's title at Wrestlemania.

After the match, we see "Rowdy" Roddy Piper arrive at the arena. While he walks through the back he says hello to Evan Bourne, Kofi Kingston, Zack Ryder, and Alex Riley who are standing around.

John Cena vs Dolph Ziggler was next but it ended in a DQ win for Cena when Jack Swagger ran in to save Ziggler who, after an even match, found himself caught in an STF.

Kane is out next to, you guessed it, talk about the Undertaker. He says that his brother has claimed he's not afraid of Kane but he hasn't shown up yet even though Kane has been there week after week. He's daring the Undertaker to show up with the gong tolls and the arena goes dark. When the lights come back on, Undertaker beats Kane out of the ring before grabbing a mic and telling Kane he'll see him Sunday in Hell in a Cell.

Kofi Kingston outlasted Evan Bourne, Santino, Antonio Cesaro, Chris Hero, and Drew McIntyre in an over the top rope battle royal for the final Money in the Bank spot.

Chris Jericho used an exposed turnbuckle to defeat Zack Ryder with a roll up.

The table is set up and we're ready for the John Cena and the Rock contract signing. Both men have mics and talk about how important it is to them to win at Wrestlemania. The Rock says Cena's been complaining that the Rock went away, he keeps pointing out that the Rock hasn't wrestled more than one match in seven years, and then he asks how that's gonna look when he beats John Cena on Sunday. Cena fires back saying that at Wrestlemania he'll beat the Rock back to the Attitude Era where he belongs.

WWE Champion CM Punk defeated Jack Swagger in a great bout with a Go 2 Sleep.

We end with Piper's Pit. Piper wastes little time starting troubles as he points out that Jericho is the spoiler in the equation, worming his way into the title match, pretending to be Punk's friend while planning to take his title all along. Jericho does nothing to deny the accusations, even saying that he's not just planning to take Punk's title, he will. Punk cuts of Jericho to say that it doesn't matter what Jericho says or does, he won't be able to take the title from Punk because Punk is the best in the world. It's Ziggler's turn to interrupt as he asks who in the ring won the Royal Rumble, oh that was him, after competing in a match earlier in the night. Punk points out that Ziggler would not have had to enter the Rumble if he had succeeded at winning the title earlier in the night. The three argue for a few minutes, getting in each other's faces before Jericho hits Punk with a mic leading to a Zig Zag, both men bail as Piper checks on Punk and Raw goes off the air.

[Deleted]

If I could only read one TEW WWE '12 diary, it'd be this one.

[MrBRulzOK]

It's always good to see more TEW diaries out there. Maybe I should start one myself. Might give me a reason to play my game more often.

[Hawk Hart]

Mar 11, 2012 0:06:50 GMT -5 MrBRulzOK said:

It's always good to see more TEW diaries out there. Maybe I should start one myself. Might give me a reason to play my game more often.

People reading this and giving feedback is really helping me keep playing. I got over the bump of the first month or two which is always hard because most times, if you're doing a WWE style booking where you have four shows a week, it's tedious and your shows don't really have an identity of their own. We'll get to WrestleMania tomorrow afternoon.

Side notes: Would anyone here be interested in helping me with a custom graphic I need?

Justin Gabriel was injured in a bar fight recently and that amused me way more than it should have.

The Bella's are bitches and they're getting really close to being fired, it seems like I can't go two weeks without one of them starting shit backstage.

On the flip side, there have been the sort of backstage reports you expect, e.g. The Rock lifted morale by sharing hilarious road stories, but there have been some pretty amusing ones like Josh Matthews and Big Show bonding as well as Claudio being well liked for showing up with "enough booze to float a battleship."

[Magic knows Black Lives Matter]

What exactly is the full WM card?